The present invention relates to a combination of a muffin separator and a muffin holder and safety guard.
Muffin separators are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,818,097 to S. R. Glanz, 3,828,995 to J. E. Shorin et al. and 4,069,581 to R. E. Gray. These devices generally comprise a pair of hinged or relatively pivoted members each carrying a plurality of prongs. When the pair of hinged members are adjacent the prongs are aligned and a muffin or like bakery product is impaled on them. Then, the pair of hinged members, and the respective pluralities of prongs, are pivoted to a separated position and as the prongs separate they are effective to separate the muffin into two halves.
To effectively impale the muffin the prongs should terminate at sharp points. However, this creates a danger that a user of the device will run the prongs all the way through the muffin and impale his hand. A muffin tearing device wherein this danger is eliminated is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,129 to Jovis. This device includes a hinged assembly which separates into two halves. Each half has a relatively movable plurality of prongs and a stationary wall. When the two halves of the assembly are together a muffin fits between the two walls and the two pluralities of prongs are displaced to impale the muffin. Then the two halves of the assembly including the two pluralities of prongs are separated and the muffin is divided into halves. However, this device is complex, requires many parts and is thus costly.